Our Patch APRIL 2016
LOOKING
BACK
The first place of
worship to be built in
Hammersmith was
St Paul's chapel in 1631
ST PAUL' S CHAPEL
A
lthough St Paul’s Church
has been standing for
more 130 years, it was
not the first church
on the site. Because in
the early 17th Century
Hammersmith was a hamlet within the
parish of Fulham.
In 1629 prominent inhabitants,
including the Earl of Mulgrave and
Nicholas Crispe, successfully petitioned
the Bishop of London for a chapel to
be built so parishioners could worship
without trudging through 1.5miles of
muddy lanes to All Saints.
H A M M ERS M IT H
The chapel of St Paul was consecrated
by Bishop Laud, later Archbishop of
Canterbury, on 7 June 1631.
Built of brick it had a square tower at
the west end crowned by a clock turret
and cupola. The neatly painted interior
had an ornamental ceiling, four stone
pillars supporting a gallery and stained
glass windows depicting coats of arms.
Family pews, of which there were
a number, were cushioned, carpeted,
and curtained from the intruding
gaze of the poorer members of the
congregation who inhabited the free
seats. In 1821, the churchwardens fitted
out a pew with scarlet cloth for the use
of Queen Caroline who was living at
Brandenburgh House nearby.
Hammersmith became a separate
parish in 1834 and the chapel of St Paul
became the parish church.
By the 1860s the building was too
small for its congregation and the
church was restored and enlarged, but
this proved to be a short-term solution.
Plans were drawn up in 1882 for
a new church to be built in stages on
the same site and the first section of
the new St Paul’s Church was
consecrated in 1883.